Monday, September 25, 2006

I Tink, Therefore I Am

With my apologies to Mr. Descartes.Do you see that? Oh no?

Try this closer shot. Do you see it now?

Yes, intend that is yet another glaring you-call-yourself-a-knitter-you-careless-incompetent type of mistake. I’m not sure if this is a case of zigging when I should have zagged or if it is a complete lack of zig or zag. I am thinking lack of. I am going to look at it more closely. When I saw that big wave where a small wave should be this morning, I just put it in my bag and tried not to think about it.

Unless I come up with a way to undo and fix just that section (any thoughts?) between now and my knitting time this evening, I am going to be doing some more unknitting. I have never had so much frogging in one project in all of my knitting days. I hope my pal loves this scarf when it is (eventually) complete.

On Saturday, I got the first half to 33” and so I set it aside and cast on for this second half. Do ya’ll like the single black strip? I wanted it to have some character…

I have a good excuse for the mistake riddled second scarf half: All of the knitting you see in that picture (as well as three different incidences of knitting and unknitting) was completed at the ER yesterday. I was there all day – nearly 12 hours – with my husband. I won’t go into the whole mess but, needless to say, my mind wasn’t very focused on my knitting. (He is doing ok now and is at home.)

I tell you that as explanation for my stunning display of knitting ineptitude and also to tell you a funny story. The room my husband was in was one of the small trauma areas. The room has four beds that can be curtained off from one another. Of course, we all know that, while curtains will shield your personal bits from prying eyes, they do nothing to prevent the patient and loved ones in the next bed over from hearing what’s going on behind the curtain. Mid-afternoon on a Sunday is apparently not the busiest time in this particular ER so at the time this incident occurred, it was only my husband on one end of the room and a “lady” who’d been brought in by ambulance on the other end of the room.

In the relative quiet, all we could hear was the (mercifully) soft beeping of his monitors and the conversations going on at the other end of the room. When they first brought little miss other end of the room in, she was screaming and being hateful and belligerent (this could have had something to do with the restraints they’d used to strap her to the gurney) and being escorted by police. Over the course of…maybe an hour or two or more, I guess. I sort of lost track of time…we heard her story.

Apparently she had overdosed on her daily Wellbutrin. She’d taken several times what she was supposed to take because, as she explained to the doctor, she couldn’t remember whether or not she had taken it so she took it again. Later on the doctor came back to give her some rest results at which time she became a little more forthcoming. He told her that the results of her toxicology reports showed that she had indeed overdosed on Wellbutrin, however, the high levels of cocaine in her system MAY have contributed to her condition.

At this point, she started crying and explained to the doctor that, once she realized she had taken too many of the Wellbutrin, she started feeling sluggish and tired so she did a little cocaine to “perk up” but about 30 minutes after doing the cocaine, she started to feel crazy, like her heart was beating too fast and she had too much energy. So, to counteract this manic feeling, she drank a bottle of bourbon to calm her nerves. Yes, yes indeed. An entire bottle of bourbon.

Hospitals and airports really are the best places for people watching.

6 comments:

Charity said...

Oh, Kristy, did you ever make me laugh! What a funny story :0)

*Groan* Sorry to hear about the scarf troubles!

Dr. B. said...

Wellbutrin, bourbon, and cocaine. What could go wrong?!

Wow! *That* is a good overheard story!

Also. You know who's gonna notice the cable mishap on your scarf? No one. Really. Other than you, no one. And, it's a hand-made scarf, for the love of Pete! I vote for moving ahead with a gentleness for your human-ness. (I'd also suggest resisting any temptation to spin out on booze and pills.)

Anonymous said...

Kristy - I am glad your husband is doing okay! I am also laughing at your story - it's the triple whammy - this woman needs to start knitting! And, I second Dr. B's comment - no one will notice - the scarf is beautiful! :-)

RobynR said...

NO!!! No knitting for the crazy crack/wellbutrin/jack ho. Can you imagine what horrors she might wreak given a pair of pointy sticks and some string???
As for the scarf . . . ignore it and call it a design feature. Or you know, a "no one is perfect but Allah" deliberate error. *nods* that's not what I'd do but I have issues.
Also, I'm glad to hear that hubby is ok.

Violiknit said...

Beautiful scarf! There is a way to fix the cable spot without ripping the whole thing out; I've done it before and it's a pain in the ass, though...I also don't know if it'll work with cables that interlock with neighboring cables; I can't tell if that's what you have...
Anyway, however many stitches wide that cable error is (6? 8? I can't tell from the pic, sorry), you have to drop those stitches down to the row where the cable was supposed to happen. Put those stitches on a needle, then knit and cable your way back up (you could probably use your circulars) . You have to be careful that you knit with those loose strands of yarn in the back in the right order. It will most likely look a bit stretched out or uneven, but that should go away with blocking. Or, you could just leave it as is. Good luck whatever you decide!

Dorothy said...

Yes, that would be exactly what I would think to do if I O.D.'d on Wellbutrin then felt crazy from the coke. Oy. Hope your Mr. is okay.

If you still like the scarf, keep going. If you can't stop thinking about the mistake, frog. It looks pretty though.

Come to Canada if you would like. We have a spare room. Bring warm clothes.